Written by Mark H. Morial
(Trice Edney Wire) – “Although not very tall, Sybil Haydel Morial was a tower of grace, kindness, dignity, and strength who inspired generations of servant leaders. For the past 30 years, she has been the political matriarch of New Orleans. Just as tenacious and just as fearless, Sybil was the epitome of a steely Magnolia. ” — Clancy Dubos.
New Orleans has lost a patriarch.
America lost one of its last soldiers in those battles of the 1950s and 1960s that opened the door for us to walk through.
My family lost my mother, my grandmother, Sybil Haydel Morial. But our grief is tempered by gratitude and the knowledge that her wisdom, passion, tenacity, and love will live on for generations.
My father, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, was a pioneer. He was the first black man to graduate from Louisiana State University School of Law, and the first person in Louisiana to be elected or appointed to many public offices, including mayor of New Orleans, making him a powerful figure. during the civil rights movement.
But without Sybil he would have been nothing.
One of my most memorable memories from my childhood is a serious car accident in Columbia, Mississippi, one of the most segregated areas of the Jim Crow South. My parents, my sister Julie, and I escaped injury, but the brand new Cadillac my parents had borrowed from Sybil’s father was a total loss.
My parents had to decide whether we would continue our journey to the NAACP convention in Chicago, where we would continue our plans for the March on Washington. It was Sybil who urged my father to move on. It was Sybil who arranged for us to take a Trailways bus, then a Greyhound bus, then a train to Chicago.
When my father ran for mayor in 1977, his campaign planned a big fundraising concert at the Rivergate Convention Center. However, as the date of the concert approached, they realized that the people responsible for organizing the concert were not selling tickets, not booking musicians, and neglecting to block off the venue. Once again, Sybil came to the rescue. The concert she organized, headlined by the late jazz legend Lionel Hampton, raised $25,000, a large sum at the time, and saved her father’s campaign.
Sybil’s house was an ordinary place. At Sybil’s house, you went to school. You went to church, right? you did the housework. She was a diplomatic training sergeant.
I see many of my mother’s qualities in my siblings, my children, and our children. Her sharp intellect, her ease in making friends, and her command skills like a drill sergeant. What I think I inherited is her ability to multitask. She was able to make dinner, talk on the phone, and help with homework all at the same time without missing a moment or being completely out of place.
Now she is visiting her husband, parents and siblings. But she also set out to join fellow “heroes” of the movement such as Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, and Fannie Lou Hamer. They will gather across the Pearly Gates for a strategy meeting, where they will send messages back to the movement.
That message is: “You’ve all been doing things so far, and we’ve been rooting for you. You’ve done some great things, but you’ve also made some mistakes. Now we’re in the lead. It’s time to stand up and take action. We hope you will support us as we have supported you.”
